Artillery wheel



Patented Apr. 9, 1935 l o Y 1,997,544

UNiTED STATES PATENT OFFICE ARTILLERY WHEEL Carolus r.. Eksel-gian, Detroit, Mich., miglior to Budd Wheel Company, Philadelphia, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Application May 2,7, 1932, Serial No. $143,914

s claims. y(ci. toi- 54) My invention relates to wheels and particularsimple stamping dies, to facilitate assembly and ly Ato pressed-metal wheels of the artillery-type welding and to render the structure an improvefor automobiles. ment, in other ways, in the art .to which it re- An object of my invention is to provide a single lates.

5 member that shall function as a. tension-spoke Figure 1,.-of the accompanying drawing, is a 5` anchorage, a closure for the open side of a. chanview, partially in side elevation and partially in nel spoke, a reinforcement for the spokes, nave section, of one half of a wheel embodying the and mounting plate, a component portion of the invention, the sections being taken at various mounting plate, an inner strengthening annulus planes in, or parallel to, the load-planeet the l0 and as other means, or any of these features in wheel, 10 combination with one or more of the others, Fig. 2 is an enlarged axial section of the strucwithin the purview of the invention. ture of Fig. 1, taken along a radius also consti- Another object of the invention is to provide tuting a central axis of one of the spokes and a wheel that shall be simple and durable in concertain parts being shown in elevation for clear- 15 struction, economical to manufacture, easy to ness, 15-

assemble, comprised of few parts, of great Fig. 3 is a view, similar to Figure 2, of a modil strength and light Weight, and effective in its fled form of the invention, and

operation. Fig. 4 is a view, similar toa portion of Fig. 2,

In practicing the invention, an Outer Stamping, of a further modified form of the invention,

2Oc or spider, comprises, preferably in one piece of In all of the figures, corresponding parts are l20D sheet metal, such as stainless steel, a mounting designated by 'corresponding reference characplate, a preferably conical nave and hollow-secters. tion spokes, preferably of rear-opening channel Referring to Figs. 1 and 2, a hub 5 has a flange section. In certain aspects of the invention, the 6 for supporting a. mounting plate, 8, as by studs 25 nave may be other than conical and the mountor bolts 9 and nuts I0. 25 ing plate may not be an element of the single The plate 8 preferably constitutes an integral stamping. Other modications of the parts and part 'of a one-piece sheet-metal stamping which combination thereof may also be effected; thosefurther comprises an inner-perimetral axial mentioned being indicative of preferred appliflange Il, an inner conical-portion I2, a conical 33 cations. y nave I4, and spokesl of hollow section, pref- :zo

In the principal form, astrengthening element, erably of rear-opening channel section. Cloor annulus I3, is disposed withinI an inner space sure elements I6, at the outer ends of the spokes, of the wheel body defined by the spokes, nave may be either integral parts of the original and mounting plate. It has an axial section stamping sheet or otherwise secured thereto and :3 bridging inner surfaces of-the stamping, prefto a peripheral annulus seated on the spoke ends, 3.

erably with one end abutting the stamping adsuch as a rim Il. l l jacent to the outer perimeter of the nave, from A stamping, in the form of a reinforcing anwhich it extends to the mounting plate, or to nulus or spider shaped member I3, is disposed in positions on the stamping short of the mountthe space defined by the parts Il, I2 andv I4 of the 43 ing plate, or to such position and continuing to outer stamping above set forth, and comprises 40 the plate. f an outer perimetral portion I 8, a'conical por- Portions may extend radially outward from tion I9, indentations 20 and an inner perimetral the element to close the open rear sides of spokes flange 22. The portion I8 is in the form of a of channel section, and other portions may exrearwardly-turned axial ange of wave-shape, 43 tend to the 'mounting plate; the device having parallel to the plane of the wheel, to conforming- 45 either one 4of these features or both. ly nt portions of the inwardly aring spokes and Tension spokes extend through the compresthe nave adjacentto the intersection of the nave sion spokes, connected to and between the rim with the inner ends of the spokes. and the reinforcing annulus of the invention, The' conical portion Il constitutes substan- 53 the latter having indentures constituting anchortially an axial bridge, or diagonal reinforcing 5o ages for the inner ends of the tension spokes. element, between the nave periphery and the The construction and arrangement of parts mounting plate portion 8. The flange 22 takes are such as to require substantially a the place of a ange usually placed on the plate of material, and to work this material to sub- 8 and cooperates with the flange II to space the 53 stantially its maximum emciency, to require only plate from the hub flange and to thereby pro- 55 vide for conical oiIset seats for the mounting nuts I ll.

The indentations 28 provide axial shoulders for nuts and washers at the inner ends of tension 5 spokes 24 that have suitable heads 25 in the rim I1 and the elements I 6.

In the form of the invention shown in Fig. 3, the reinforcing annulus |3a has radially-outwardly-extending portions 27 closing the inner- Open sides oi' the spokes l5, a conical portion 28, corresponding to the conical portion 91, and portions 39 corresponding to the shoulders 20, of Figs. 1 and 2.

The closure portions 2l have front-turned perimetral ilanges conforming to, and fitted about, the edges of the spokes, where they merge into the nave. The portion 2t does not extend to the mounting plate, as in the structure of Figs. 1 and 2, but continues through the shoulders 30 to a point on. the stamping adjacent to the intersection of the spokes and the stamping. This point might be at various places radially of the stamping. As shown, however, the por tion 30 is of scollcp or wave form around portions of the spoke, and nave at its axially outer edge, which is .secured in position as by an. arc welding body or bodies 3|.

The form of theinvention, illustrated in Fig. 4, is a combination of the structures of Figs. l, 2 and 3, in that'a conical portion 32 of the inner reinforcing annulus |31: hasspokeclosure elements 33, corresponding to the closure elements 21 of Fig. 3, and an inner-perimetral axial ange 34, corresponding to the ange 22 of Figs.

1 and 2. In this form also, a shoulder 35 corresponding to the shoulders 20 and 30, has a portion 36 in side surface engagement with the nave Il over a wider area for spot or projection welding thereto, and more widely distributing 40 forces thereon.

In each oi' the forms, asimple-stamping annnulus is provided in such relation to the outer, or main, stamping as to therewith constitute a reinforcing inner annular portion of substantially hollow-section providing great strength for the thin sheet-metal elements employed, sealing the inner side of the structure against moisture, and other foreign matter, and providing a iirm anchorage for the inner ends of the tension spokes.

'I'he structure is neat and compact, of low cost and eas:7 to manufacture, and provides many 'advantages over previous structures in this field. 5

While I have shown and described particular forms of my invention, changes may be effected therein without departing from the spirit and scope thereof, as set forth in the appended claims.

What I claim. is:

1. A. vehicle wheel comprising, in combination, a rim, a unitary pressed metal spider member having a bolting-on ange, a substantially conically extending nave portion, radially extending spokes extending outwardly thereof, said spokes having integral end closures, a reinforcing annulus interconnecting the bolting-on flange and the periph v ery of said conical nave portion, and a plurality of tension spokes interconnecting said rim and reinforcing annulus and passing through the integral end closures of said spokes.

2. A vehicle wheel comprising, in combination, a rim, a unitary spoke spider including a radially extending mounting iiange, a substantially axially extending hub shell portion,.a substantially conically extending nave portion outwardly thereof. and a plurality 'of substantially radially extending spokes outwardly of said nave portion and having their root portions pressed therefrom, a reinforcing member interconnecting the periphery of said nave and said mounting iiange, and a plurality of tension spokes interconnecting the rim and said member and passing interiorly of said radially extending spokes.

3. A wheel comprising a stamping including compression spokes of channel section and a nave, a peripheral annulus seated on the outer ends of the compression spokes. a member having portions closing the opensides of said spokes, and a portion extending laterally, of the spokes, and tension spokes -interiorly of said compression spokes connecting said laterally-extending por-- tion` of said member andthe peripheral annulus seated on the outer ends of the compression 45 spokes.

CAROLUS L. EKSERGIAN. 

